Something Worth Protecting
by all-the-angels
Summary: Sequel to 'I'm Afraid Of Being Lonely. Thank you guys so much for your support! I'll do my very best with this story, so please review and tell me what you think! KaitoxLen


"How about this one?" Kaito called out to his boyfriend, holding up a small, old, leather bound book with aging, yellowing pages. Said boyfriend lifted his gaze up from the box of books in front of him, which was stacked on top of yet another box of books and surrounded by several stacks of them, and then shook his head quickly. "Oh, come on, Len! You're making this way more difficult than it needs to be!"

"That one's important!" Len protested, reaching out and snatching the book from Kaito's hand. He safely placed it inside another box before reaching into the box in front of him and pulling out another book, only to shake his head and return it to it's previous position among the other dust covered volumes. "So is that one..."

"Len, there are books everywhere!" Kaito said in an exasperated voice, leaning back on his hands from where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor. They were surrounded by boxes of books, also piles of books since they ran out of boxes for those, and books stacked on the coffee table and the side-table and every other available surface; the bookcases, ironically enough, were left bare. Kaito had made the executive decision that, if Len was going to keep bringing several books home from work a few times a week, then they had to organize and clean to make room for them. That meant, however, that they had to get rid of some of the older books that Len had accumulated over the years, something Len refused to do. "How about... Oh, here! Why don't we get rid of this one? You have two copies!"

"No, I don't!" Len protested just as much as corrected, reaching over and taking the book from Kaito and holding it against his chest protectively. "This is in the original Shakespearean text, the other one is simplified. Therefore, they are different books and, therefore, we are keeping both of them."

Kaito let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes in a tired way; they had been at this for several hours, and no progress had been made. Len just didn't want to part with his books. "I think you have a serious problem."

"I do not," Len sniffed, safely placing the book on a pile next to him, patting the cover lovingly. "I like them, so I want to keep them. What's so wrong with that?"

"It wouldn't be a problem if you actually reread them or something, but you don't!" Kaito said. "They just sit around collecting dust."

"I like to wait a while before rereading things," Len defended. "Gives me a new perspective on them."

"Oh, really," Kaito said skeptically, picking up another book with a sizable layer of dust on the cover, the pages yellowing and fragile. It looked like it would fall apart at the touch. "When was the last time you've read this one, Len?"

"Um..." Len scratched his cheek and looked away before murmuring, "I actually don't think I've ever read that one..."

"Len!" Kaito groaned, falling back onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. "This is hopeless. At this rate, we're gonna need a whole room just for your books."

"That's not a bad idea," Len said thoughtfully, tapping his chin as he considered it. "We could turn your room into a book room, and you can sleep on the couch."

Kaito shot up with an incredulous look in Len's direction. "I was kidding! And how come I have to sleep on the couch?!"

"But that would solve all our probl-" Len was cut off by a knock on their front door. Len sighed and stood up slowly, stretching and wincing at the stiffness of his muscles after sitting down for such a long time. He maneuvered his way around the stacks and boxes of books on the ground, ruffling Kaito's hair as he passed and smirking at the indignant noise Kaito made in return. He ran a hand through his hair as he opened the door. "Hello?"

"Lenny~!" Len was immediately tackled in a hug by a girl with long pigtails and a happy smile on her face. "Lenny Len it's been so long!"

"It's been a few days, Miku," Len grumbled as he winced, rubbing his head from where he sat on the floor, Miku's arms tight around his neck. He patted the top of Miku's head, rolling his eyes. "And please don't call me Lenny."

"Aww but it's so cute!" Miku gushed, grinning brightly from where she was still sitting on top of Len. She pouted. "And a few days is too long, Lenny! After all, after I moved here, I figured we would all play together all the time!"

"Some of us have to work," Len pointed out, smiling despite himself when Miku stuck her tongue out childishly. She giggled and grinned at Len again. Len had to admit, he found her childish behavior refreshing and almost endearing, like she hadn't changed at all from when they were teenagers. Her laugh, her smile, even the length of her pigtails and her voice had stayed exactly the same. Since Kaito came back, and now Miku was back in his life, it was like Len had gone back to the past. "Anyway, was there something you needed?"

"Len, who was at the... Oh," Kaito blinked and stood in the doorway, looking down at Len and Miku. Len blushed a bit when he realized the position he and Miku were in and diverted his gaze. "Miku, get your own boyfriend!"

"Awwww, but I'll never find someone as cute as Len," Miku pouted teasingly, tightening her arms around Len's neck and sticking her tongue out at Kaito. Len rolled his eyes and disentangled himself from Miku, standing up and walking over to Kaito. Len reached up and ruffled Kaito's hair again as he passed by, his fingers lingering on the tips of Kaito's hair and the back of his neck. Kaito's cheeks flushed as Len retreated into the kitchen, probably to get coffee, and watched him. He hadn't even noticed that Miku had gotten up and was now standing next to him, and he jumped when he noticed her grinning at him in a knowing way. "Aww, Kaito, you're so cuuute~"

"S-Shut up, Miku!" Kaito stuttered, glancing over at Len again, who was leaning against the counter and smirking at him.

"You're sooo the girl in the relationship," Miku said airily, skipping past him and into the kitchen to rejoin Len, who had turned on the coffee maker for the first time that day. Len laughed as Kaito glared. "Oh, you know it's true!"

"I am not!" Kaito protested, walking into the kitchen with both of them.

"Yes, you are," Len corrected him, grinning when Kaito pouted.

"But Len's shorter! Plus, his hair is longer!" Kaito said to Miku, pointing at Len and tugging on his hair. Miku nodded in consideration, walking over to Len and studying his face with a hand on her chin.

"He looks awfully feminine, too," Miku agreed, grinning and sticking her tongue out at Len as he blushed and glared at her. "Oh, come on, Lenny, you know it's true!"

"What do you want, Miku?" Len asked loudly, repeating his question from earlier.

"Oh, yeah!" Miku said brightly, seemingly to realize for the first time that she went there with a purpose. She straightened up and tilted her head at Len in an inquiring way. "I was wondering when you, Yuuma-kun and Gakupo were going to be playing again?"

"Oh," Len said, a bit surprised at the question. "I don't know. Sometime this week, I guess. Maybe tomorrow. Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if I could please, please, pretty please with cherries and sprinkles and leeks and sparkles on top sing with you guys when you do," Miku said in a rushed voice, her hands clasped together and looking at Len hopefully. Kaito blinked in surprise at the request, glancing at Len, who had a similar look of surprise on his face. "Please, Len? It's been sooooo long since we've done something like that together!"

"Sure, I suppose," Len said, still a little taken aback by the sudden request. "I don't see why not."

"Really? Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" Miku shouted happily, wrapping her arms around Len's neck and kissing his cheek. Kaito gave Len an astonished look, wondering why he gave in so quickly, but Len was looking at Miku, laughing and hugging her in return. Kaito couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy in his chest at the sight.

"Of course," Len was saying, ruffling her hair. "It's been a really long time, after all."

"Like, eight years long!" Miku clarified. "Oh, I wonder what song we should do! We could do Romeo and Cinderella, but-"

"You wrote that in high school, Yuuma and Gakupo don't know that one, you know."

"Yeah, that's true. How about World is Mine?"

"Miku, there's no way in hell I'm going on about how I'm 'the number one princess in the whole world'. Because in case you haven't noticed-"

"You're a guy," Miku finished for him, sticking her tongue out as Len laughed. Miku giggled and smiled brightly. "How about 'Missing'? You remember that one, don't you?"

"Yeah, I think so, but I'd have to..."

Kaito slipped out of the kitchen silently and made his way back into the living room, winding around the stacks and boxes of books, Miku and Len still chatting animatedly about their song. Kaito reached down and picked up a random book from one of the boxes, flipping through the pages absentmindedly, straining to hear more of Len and Miku's conversation. He heard Len laugh again, and felt himself smile subconsciously at the bright sound. It had been about six months since he and Len first got together (officially, anyway), and ever since then Kaito has been seeing Len's old and more honest personality come back to life. Len smiled, laughed, and opened up more; of course, Len still had his infuriating but also endearing tsundere attitude, and he called Kaito an idiot at least ten times a day, and still wasn't nearly as open as he had been in the past, but he was definitely improving. Kaito had been trying his hardest to make Len become more of his true self, the person that Kaito knew back when they were both teenagers and happy and full of songs to sing, but sometimes it seemed to Kaito that that person didn't exist anymore. Len still sometimes stared into space, still sometimes tried to sneak a pack of cigarettes outside without Kaito noticing (Kaito had been trying to get Len to quit), still sometimes lost his temper and locked himself in his bedroom until the next morning. Kaito was willing to admit that he had flaws, too, and that Kaito was equally at fault for their little arguments, so he forgave Len for all of these things. In Kaito's opinion, that was what being in love was all about.

"Miku, it doesn't really matter what you wear. I just wear whatever I wear to work."

"Oh, you boys are so stupid sometimes! Of course it matters what I wear! I have to look cute, you know!"

"No you don't."

"Dummy, you're supposed to say, 'Miku you always look cute'!"

Walking over to the glass door overlooking the balcony, Kaito closed the book, his arm dropping to his side as he watched the sun set slowly over the towering buildings in Tokyo, the fading and brilliant colors reflecting off the thousands of windows so that everything was glittering. It was getting warm, more like hot, in Tokyo recently, so much that the dreadful months of Winter were almost forgotten by Kaito and Len. Not forgotten, exactly, because Rin was always present in Len's mind and was often the reason for Len's sleepless nights and silent moments, but the pain was definitely melting away with the long forgotten snow. Kaito wondered, as he watched the bright sunlight fade into reds and oranges, where his and Len's relationship was going. Kaito was definitely happy with the way things were; they kissed, they laughed, and they spent time together. Kaito quite honestly couldn't be much happier. But was it the same for Len? Now that he was healing, Kaito wondered if Len would realize that he didn't need Kaito around, that he could probably be with any person he wanted, and that Kaito wasn't really all that special. Kaito hoped that this wasn't the case, but when he saw the way Len smiled at Miku, he wasn't so sure.

At that last thought, he felt someone's arms wind around his waist and rest their forehead against his back. "What are you so deep in thought about?"

"Nothing," Kaito replied with a smile, turning around and taking Len in his arms, burying his face in Len's soft yellow hair. "Nothing at all."

"Figured as much," Len replied cheekily, laughing quietly when Kaito made an indignant noise into Len's hair, resting his head against Kaito's chest and falling silent. While they stood there, Kaito couldn't help but think that it was moments like these that made all the little arguments and all the jealousy absolutely worth it. He felt like he loved Len so much it hurt.

"Where's Miku?" Kaito asked after a few moments, looking around and suddenly realizing that the pigtailed girl was absent and that her bright chatter had faded away. "She left already?"

"She said it was getting late, she was planning on meeting Gumi and Teto for dinner," Len replied, looking up at Kaito and grinning. "You know, I'm actually really excited to perform with her."

"I could tell from your voice," Kaito replied, brushing Len's hair from his face. "It has been a really long time, I'm sure she's just as excited as you are."

"Mmm," Len hummed, standing on his toes and kissing Kaito gently, wrapping his arms around Kaito's neck and pulling himself closer to him. Kaito immediately responded enthusiastically, making Len laugh a bit and pull back. "That'll never get old for you, will it?"

"Never," Kaito agreed, leaning down to kiss Len again.


End file.
